256 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. I. 



the cell increases, till it attains its normal maximum volume. The 

 retrogressive metamorphosis of the nebenkern, as Platner now terms the 

 separated bud, goes hand in hand with the vigorous formation of zymo- 

 gen granules in the cell. The nebenkern stains less readily with hsema- 

 toxylin, and its volume decreases gradually, till either only fibrillar 

 remains of the same are visible among the zymogen granules, or it is 

 indistinguishable. 



It is seen that these observations raise the question how far " partial " 

 chromatolysis, as Platner terms the formation and degeneration of the 

 nebenkern, thus described, enters into the processes of secretion, but 

 Platner leaves the matter undecided. 



Platner accounts for the discrepancies in the two descriptions of the 

 mode of formation of the nebenkern by stating that in the pancreas of 

 Anura, which formed the basis of his earlier observations, the determina- 

 tion of the various points is difficult, because of the small size of the cells 

 in which the nebenkern sits cap-like on the nucleus. 



Steinhaus* solves the question of the nature of these bodies differ- 

 ently. He denies their normal occurrence in Amphibia. They were 

 not present in the pancreas of six axolotls which he examined and they 

 were also absent from the pancreas of frogs obtained from one locality, 

 though present in those of another. Even in the pancreas of some sala- 

 manders they are absent. He states that they have no connection with 

 the processes of secretion, as the formation of zymogen granules goes on 

 as well in the cells deprived of these bodies, as in those possessing them. 

 They lie unchanged and, so far as the formation of zymogen granules is 

 concerned, inert in the cell protoplasm. He never saw any structures 

 which proved either the origin of these bodies out of the constituents of 

 the cell, or their conversion into zymogen granules, or their connection 

 with cell renewal. Steinhaus studied the condition of the nucleus in all 

 the phases of secretion, but could observe nothing which would be 

 considered as nuclear budding, according to Platner's description. 



Steinhaus gives no verbal description of the nebenkerne, but in his 

 figures he represents them as varying in size and number in each cell 

 and as thread or worm-like forms more or less coiled, some of the larger 

 ones of which have one end of the thread thickened to resemble a head. 



Steinhaus considers these bodies as parasites whose relationship to 

 the Hsematozoa is unmistakable, but so long as we know only this stage 



*Ueber parasitare Einschliisse in den Pancreaszellen der Amphibien — Ziegler's Beitrai^e zur 

 Path. Anat. und zur Ally;em. Path., Bd. vii., p. 367. 



